Small Mischievous Hands
by Milieva
Summary: Umi's friend Satomi pressures Umi into coming to their study group. There is only one small problem, Umi has to bring Nao with her. follow-on from Wish I Had an Angel


A/N: I've been sifting through my documents trying to see if I have anything I had started for Try to Wish, but I keep finding other random things, some are chapters which don't even belong to me. This little story is just one of many odd little things I have found.

I wrote this little story some time ago as an answer to a contest challenge. It was inspired by a little girl much like Nao in this fic. This story obviously takes place some time after Wish I Had an Angel, as the baby is a bit older.

**Small Mischievous Hands**

Satomi was beginning to regret her decision. It may not have been the best idea to force Umi to attend the fencing club study session this weekend. The club met and completed their homework together weekly before going downtown to J-Pop or some other teen hangout. Umi hadn't attended but once or twice since they had started high school. She always claimed to have other more pressing plans.

When Umi had agreed, it was after much pressing, pleading, and whining. And she still didn't seem exactly happy with the idea. The day before the study session, Umi had called to say that she wouldn't be coming. Someone needed to stay with Naoko. Umi's mother and father were going away for the weekend.

So when Satomi pushed for her to come, that meant Naoko came with her.

Why couldn't Umi just have someone else watch her for a few hours? Her parents acted like she was Umi's responsibility. It wasn't like she was her daughter or something.

Umi had rejoined the fencing club at the beginning of the school year following her mysterious second term absence. No one had that story straight. Rumour had it that there was a family emergency. Naoko and that man….what was his name? ...appeared shortly after. It was all rather strange. She must have been some sort of relative.

It wasn't too long into the term that Umi had started bringing Naoko to club meetings. She would leave after school and come back with the baby, making herself late, but she always put out as much effort as she always had. And she still remained one of the best on the team.

Naoko was the unofficial team mascot, so none of the girls minded the idea of her coming to the study session.

They hadn't thought that through.

The club was meeting at Maho's house. Her tables were traditionally low. Naoko was pulling up and standing. She had the perfect reach for anything that happened to be on the table. And that included everything.

Umi had the girl in her lap for a short time. Little hands wrinkled the bottom of her paper as she wrote, but she didn't seem to notice.

But everyone else did.

Rika smiled. She had heard stories from Umi about how Naoko was known for tearing up the most important papers on her father's desk. No matter where he happened to put them, she always found them.

It didn't take long before the baby grew tired of being pinned in one spot, she began to fuss and push things away.

Umi reached into her bag and pulled out a few small toys. Setting Naoko a little away from the table, in her line of sight, the blue haired girl returned to the table. That wouldn't last long.

No one was paying attention when Satomi's calculator disappeared, until the girl reached over for it, and there was nothing there.

Naoko was sitting beside her, trying to bite it.

"Nao!" Umi grabbed it from her and handed it back to the team captain.

The baby promptly threw herself face down on the ground and screamed. The water knight reached into her bag and pulled out her cellular phone. The little bells on the charm jingled as she handed to the girl.

She apologized to the other girls and returned to the math homework Satomi and Rika were starting. This was going to be a long day.

By the time she had destroyed three sheets of paper from Umi note book, one with history notes on it, Naoko was busy pulling out the contents of Umi's purse, one by one, when the knight's cell phone rattled across the floor while playing a Yoshida Konami song.

Umi nearly tripped over Naoko as she reached for her phone.

"Hello?"

She walked out of the room so she didn't completely disturb her friends.

"Oh, sorry. I meant to leave a note….Yes, she's here….No…..We're at Maho's." The blue haired girl peeked back into the room.

"Maho? Is it alright if Clef comes here to get Nao?"

Maho nodded. "Who is Clef?"

"Her father," what the water knight's short response. Turning back into the hall, Umi began to give him directions to the house, finally just telling him to call if he got lost.

"So, why didn't Clef have Nao today?" Rika asked.

Umi gathered up her things, much to the baby's annoyance. "He was supposed to be busy all day. I was going to see him this evening, maybe, he said." Her expression was not all together happy. Something about him arriving early was not sitting well.

Maho jumped to her feet when the doorbell rang. She was followed back into the room by a tall lavender haired man. The only word that could come to Satomi's mind when she saw him, was "gorgeous".

He politely greeted the girls and dropped down to one knee a few feet from Naoko, waiting for her to crawl to him.

He gathered the baby and her belongings with hardly a word. He and Umi discussed if he would be home when she got there, but nothing more than a polite farewell as he departed with the little person who had caused so much mischief.

In the beautiful man's wake, all the girls attacked Umi with questions. How could she know a man so perfect, and they had never met him before? But the girl delicately evaded the questions. All they knew was what they had known before he came. His name was Clef, and he was Naoko's father.

Nearly half the usual amount of homework had been completed this week. Maybe it would be wise not to pressure Umi into coming the next time if she had to bring the baby along to do so.


End file.
